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Construction, manufacturing workers could face hard job market

Workers in manufacturing and construction could find it difficult to find work.

Those who build or use construction equipment may not find their employment situation as rosy as the rest of the country.

Though the unemployment rate remained the same at 9.7 percent in March, both the manufacturing and construction sectors saw large job losses during the Great Recession. Hale Stewart, writing for political-statistics website FiveThirtyEight.com, said that more than 70 percent of employment lost in the country was in those two sectors.

"Construction will never return to the levels seen in the last expansion and manufacturing is undergoing a productivity revolution where employees are being replaced by automation," Stewart said.

Stewart said that, as a result, people in those areas are going to find it rather hard to find a job. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics did report that manufacturing jobs increased in March by 17,000, while construction was up 15,000.

A government tax credit for first-time homebuyers may help drive an increase in construction employment as consumers rush to purchase a home. Furthermore, an initiative to try and double U.S. exports in the next five years could help create manufacturing jobs.